contractions
|con-trac-tions|
/kənˈtrækʃənz/
(contraction)
becoming smaller or shorter
Etymology
'contraction' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'contractio' (from the verb 'contrahere'), where 'con-' meant 'together' and 'trahere' meant 'to draw'.
'contraction' changed from Latin 'contractio' to Old French 'contraction' and Middle English forms such as 'contraccioun', eventually becoming the modern English word 'contraction'.
Initially, it meant 'a drawing together' or 'the act of drawing together'; over time it broadened to include 'shortening (of words)', 'a reduction or shrinking (as in economy)', and the specific physiological sense 'uterine tightening' among others.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
rhythmic tightening of a muscle, especially the uterus during childbirth (plural: repeated episodes of tightening).
She began to feel strong contractions every 8 minutes and called her midwife.
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Noun 2
a reduction in size, quantity, or economic activity; periods when an economy shrinks (plural: decreases or downturns).
The country recorded two consecutive quarterly contractions in GDP.
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Noun 3
shortened forms of words or phrases produced by omission or merging (e.g., "don't" for "do not").
English contractions such as "it's" or "they're" are common in spoken and informal written English.
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Noun 4
in mathematics, mappings or operators that decrease distances between points (plural: several such mappings).
Banach's fixed-point theorem applies to certain contractions on a complete metric space.
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Last updated: 2025/10/02 03:08